Collapsible chair



F. A. LlSl COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR April 2 3fl957 2,789,623

Filed April 10, 1956 Z Sheets-Sheet 1 nited States Patent COLLAPSIBLECHAIR Frank A. Lisi, Philadelphia, Pa. Application April 10, 1956,Serial No. 577,369 9 Claims. (Cl. 155-139) This invention relates tochairs, more particularly to folding chairs; and this application is acontinuation-inpart of co-pending application Serial No. 457,328, filedSeptember 21, 1954, now abandoned.

It is an object of the invention to provide a folding chair of novel andsimple construction, which will occupy a minimum of space when folded.

Another object of the invention is to provide a foldable armchair whichwill provide a high degree of comfort when opened for use and which willoccupy a minimum of space when closed or folded for storage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a foldable chair whichmay be unfolded and folded in a simple manner, yet is sturdy and may becarried about without folding inadvertently.

These and other objects are effected by the invention as Will beapparent from the following description and claims, taken in accordancewith the accompanying drawin gs forming a part of this application, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a folding armchair constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the chair shown in Fig. l, withportions broken away in the interest of clarity;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2, but showing the chairpartially closed;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to that of Figs. 2 and 3, but showing the chairfully closed;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken along the lineV-V of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken along the lineVIVI of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a modified detail ofthe stop carried by the seat of the chair for limiting rearward movementof the rear legs;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a modifiedconnection between the chair back and its supporting structure;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged side elevational view of the left arm of thechair, showing a modified pivotal connection;

Fig. 10 is a View similar to that of Fig. 9, but showing the parts inthe position they occupy when the chair is folded;

Fig. 11 is a side elevational view of another chair embodiment, withportions broken away in the interest of clarity;

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 11 but showing the chair partiallyclosed;

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Figs. 11 and 12 but showing the chair fullyclosed;

Fig. 14 is a front view of the chair in the fully closed position; and

Fig. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line XV-XV ofFig. 11 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, especially Figs. l-4incl., the reference character 10 indicates, in its entirety, a foldingarm chair constructed in accordance with the invention and. comprising apair of front legs 11, joined by a first transverse bar 12, and each leghaving an upwardly-directed integral extension 13. Similarly, a pair ofrear legs 15 are joined by a second transverse bar 16, and haveupwardly-directed integral extensions 17. It will be readily apparentfrom reference to the drawings that the front legs, together with theirextensions and transverse bar, form an integral H-shaped framestructure, and the same is true of the rear legs, their extensions andtransverse bar.

Either or both pairs of legs may be provided with gracing meanssupplementing the transverse bars 12 and 16, and one form of suchsupplemental brace is shown at 18 in Fig. l. The rod 18 is bent at itscenter, and has the center bend secured to the second transverse bar 16at the center of the latter, and its terminal portions likewise securedto the rear legs 15 at points thereon spaced from the transverse bar 16.

The upper terminal portions of the front and rear frame structures arepivotally joined by connecting arm portions 20 rigidly secured at oneend to the rear leg extensions 17 and pivoted, as at 21, to the frontleg extensions 13 at their other ends. As well illustrated in Fig. 2,the connecting arms 20 are of sufficient length to permit limitedpivotal movement of the front. and rear H-shaped frame structuresrelative to one another, the

two limits of such pivotal movement being shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

A seat structure 25 is supported by the frame structures, and may be ofany suitable form and materials. As herein illustrated, a pad 26 issecured to the upper surface of a sheet of plywood 27. When the chair 10is opened for use, the seat structure 25 rests on, and is supported by,the two transverse bars 12 and 16, and is. pivotally secured to thefirst transverse bar 12 by looped straps 23 secured to the plywood 27,at 29. The rear portion of the plywood sheet 27 is at all times incontact with the second transverse bar 16, and when the chair is infully opened position is held in fixed relation thereto by a stop 30,Figs. 2 and 3, formed at the forward end of the strap 31 which issecured .to the under side of the seat structure 25 near the rearthereof.

A modified form of stop is shown in Fig. 7, wherein the forward portion32 of the strap 33 is formed as a spring clip which serves totemporarily lock the seat structure 25 to the rear frame structure.

A back structure, indicated in its entirety by the reference character35, consists of a body-engaging member 36, which, like the seat 25, maycomprise a pad 37 supported on a plywood backing 38, and a dependingsupporting link 39. The link 39 is pivoted at its lower terminal portionto the rear end 40 of the strap 31, carried at the lower rear edge ofthe seat structure 25, this pivotal connection being indicated at 4-1 inFigs. 2 and 3.

For a clear'understanding of the preferred form of connection betweenthe body-engaging member of the back, and its associated structure,reference is made to Figs. 1 and 5. In this form of the invention, theupper end of the link 39 is formed with an eye 43, which pivotallyreceives the central portion 44 of an arm structure, indicated in itsentirety by the reference character 45.

This arm structure 45 is of U-shape with its central portion 44 formingthe bottom of the U. The backs bodyengaging member 36 is pivotallymounted on the central portion 44 of the U-shaped arm structure 45, byclips 46 secured to the rear of the body-engaging member 36, as at 47(Fig. 6). With this construction, the member 36 is free to swing orpivot about the arm central portion 44 to adjust to the position of theusers back. Preferably, means is provided to limit the amount ofpivoting of the member 36, so that it will not be too far out ofparallel with the seat structure 25 as closing movement of the chairparts nears completion. Note Fig. 4. Such limiting means may be quitesimple in form, and as herein shown comprises a short length of chain49, extending from the bottom of the member 36 to the link 39.

The U-shaped arm structure includes, in addition to the central portion44, a pair of side or arm portions 50, terminating in channel-shapedrests 51. The rests 51 are pivotally connected to the'upper terminalportions of the rear leg extensions 17, as at 52.

In order that the chair, when in folded position, as shown in Fig. 4,may be compact as possible, it is desirable that the distance from pivot52 to that of 44 be substantially equal to the distance from the pivotat 28 to the pivot at 41, and that the distance between pivots 52 and 28be substantially equal to the distance between pivots 44 and 41. When sodimensioned, the various members connecting the four pivot points form,in effect, a parallelogram.

It is believed that little or no explanation is necessary regarding theoperations of opening and closing the chair herein illustrated. Figs. 2,3 and 4 well illustrate the closing action of the structure, and theopening procedure is, of course, the reverse. Considering Fig. 2; whenit is desired to close the chair, the latter may be tilted rearwardlyslightly, sufficient to raise the front legs 11 off the floor, whereuponthe seat may be pushed rearwardly with the front legs moving in thedirection indicated by the arrows A (Figs. 2 and 3), such movementresulting in easy closing of the chair.

To open the closed chair, it is merely necessary to lift on the backmember 36 while the rear legs 15 are resting on the floor and the frontlegs 11 are out of engagement therewith, as shown in Fig. 4.

If a somewhat simplified structure is desired, as regards the backstructures, the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 8 may be utilized. Herethe link 39 has its upper end secured directly to the plywood backmember 36 and the pivot clips 46"are omitted. Of course, in this arrangement there is no pivoting of the body-engaging member 36 relative to thelink 39 for adjustment to the back of the user. i

In Figs. 9 and 10 there is shown a modified connection between'the upperends of the H-shaped frame structures and the arm rests. The arm rests51a have depending plates 52:; rigidly secured thereto. The rear legextensions 17 are pivoted to these plates, as at 53a, While the frontleg extensions 13 have a pin 54:; projecting laterally therefrom andinto a curved slot 55a in the plate 52a. This curved slot 55a terminatesat one end in an offset 56a in which the pin 54a is received when thechair is in fully open position. in fully closed position, the pin isdisposed at the opposite end of the curved slot 55a. This constructionprovides the same opening and closing action as is provided by theconstruction previously described.

Figs. ll-l inclusive illustrate another embodiment of the invention,wherein the reference character 111i indicates, in its entirety, afolding arm chair generally similar to the arm chair 1%} previouslydescribed and comprising a pair of front legs 111, joined by a firsttransverse bar 112, each leg having an upwardly-directed integralextension 113. Similarly a pair of rear legs 115 are joined by a secondtransverse bar 116 and are provided with upwardly-directed integralextensions 117. The front legs, together with their extensions andtransverse bar, foinl an integral H-shaped frame structure, as do therear legs, their extensions and transverse bar. i

The upper terminal portions of the front and rear H-shaped framestructures are pivotally joined by arm portions rigidly secured at oneend to the rear leg extensions 117 and pivoted as at 121, to the frontleg extensions 113 at their other ends. As illustrated in Fig. 11, thearm portions 120 have their upper surface portions 120a disposed insubstantially flush relation with the upper ends of the front and rearleg extensions 113 and 117, respectively, and are of suificient lengthto permit relative pivotal movement of the front and rear H- shapedframe structures between the limits shown in Figs. 11 and 13.

A seat structure is pivotally secured to the first transverse bar 112 bylooped straps 128 and is disposed in such a manner that when the chair110 is unfolded or opened for use, the seat structure rests on, and issup ported by the two transverse bars 112 and 116. When the chair is inthe fully opened position, the seat structure 125 is held in fixedrelation with the second transverse bar 116 by a spring clip 131 whichis secured to the underside of the seat structure adjacent the rearthereof.

A back rest structure including a bodyeengaging portion 136 is pivotallyconnected to the seat structure 125 by a depending supporting link 1 39pivotally connected at its lower terminal portion to the rear end 140 ofthe spring clip 131 by a pivot pin 141.

The upper end of the link 139 is formed with an eye 143 which pivotallyreceives the central portion 144 of a U-shaped arm structure 145. Thebody-engaging member 136 is pivotally attached to the central portion144 of the U-shaped arm structure 45, by a U-shaped clip 146 secured tothe rear of the body-engaging member 136. Hence the body-engaging memberis free to pivot about the arm central portion 144. A U-shaped clip 149loosely encompassing the depending link 139 and attached to the rear ofthe body-engaging member 136 is provided to limit the amount of pivotalmovement of the body-engaging member.

The U-shaped arm structure further includes a pair of side or armportions 150 extending from the central portion 144 and terminating inchannel shaped rests 151. The rests 151 are provided with verticalportions 151a and horizontal portions 151 b and are pivotally cont d toh pe t rmina Port on f the e leg tensions 117 by rivets 152 or othersuitable means. It will be noted that the rivets 15 2 are attached tothe vertical portions 15111 of the rests and that the horizontalportions 151!) of the rests are substantially wider than thecross-sectional diameter of the leg extensions 113 and 117 (see Fig.14). Also, as seen in Figs. 11 and 12 the horizontal rest portions 151bextend forwardly of the terminal portions of the leg extensions 113.

When it is desired to fold the chair 110, the user first stationshimself behind the chair and grasps the upper portion of thebody-engaging member 136. He then pushes the chair forwardly, tiltingthe entire chair in a forward direction about the front legs 11 aspivots, until the front legs are substantially in a vertical position(as shown in Fig. 12) and the rear legs 115 are off the floor F. Therear legs 115 may then be momentarily nudged with one foot toward thefront legs 11 until the transverse bar 116 becomes disengaged from thespring clip 131. The weight of the Qdy-engaging member 136 in additionto the Weight 'of the depending link member 139 and the U-shaped armstructure 145 will then provide a continuing motion tending to fold thechair. During this continuing motion the horizontal rest portions 151bremain in abutment with the arm portions 120 and provide acounterclockwise movement about the pivotal point 121 causing the rearlegs 115 to continue their movement toward the front legs 111. Thiscondition is illustrated in Fig. 12. After movement of the rear legs 111is arrested by abutment againstthe front legs, the horizontal restportions continue their counterclockwise movement about the rivets 152(as shown in Fig. 13) to effect complete folding of the seat structure125 against the rear legs 115 and of the body-engaging member 136against the seat structure.

When it is desired to unfold the chair it is merely necessary to graspthe body-engaging portion 136 from behind and lift upwardly, therebycausing the seat portion 125 to be unfolded by the upward movementthereon about the transverse bar 112 by the depending link member 139.concomitantly therewith, the U-shaped arm structure 145 together withits rest portion 151 is rotated upwardly about the rivets 152 until therest portions are rotated into abutment with the upper surface 120a ofthe arm portions 120. At this point, the rear legs 115 begin to leavethe floor F and the lifting forces on the rest portions 151b aretransmitted as a counterclockwise force about the pivots 121 forcing therear legs past the position shown in Fig. 12 to the fully open positionshown in Fig. 11 (into engagement with the spring clip 131). The chairis thus locked in the unfolded or open position and may be carried aboutby grasping the rest portions 151 or the U-shaped arm structure 145 inthe conventional manner without causing the chair to collapse to thefolded position. The reason why the chair will not collapse when carriedabout in this manner is that the lifting force on the horizontal restportions 151b is transmitted to the arm portions 120 as acounterclockwise force tending to move the rear legs in counterclockwisedirection (or unfolding direction). Obviously, the result is that therear legs 115 are retained in the fully unfolded position, although thespring clip 131 is not a positive lock.

It will now be seen that the invention provides a folding arm chair ofsturdy construction which may be easily folded or unfolded, which foldscompactly for storage purposes, is highly rigid when in the openposition and which may be carried about in the open position withoutfolding.

While the invention has been shown in several forms, it is not solimited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a folding chair, integral front and rear H-shaped frame structurespivotally joined adjacent their upper ends, a seat structure pivotallymounted on the transverse bar of the front H-shaped frame structure, andadapted to rest on the corresponding bar of the rear H-shaped framestructure, a U-shaped arm structure having its free end portionspivotally connected to one of the H-shaped frame structures adjacent theupper end of the latter, and a back structure pivotally connected to thecentral portion of the U-shaped arm structure and to the rear portion ofthe seat structure.

2. In a folding chair, integral front and rear H-shaped frame structureseach comprising a pair of spaced side members and a transverse barjoining the spaced side members intermediate their terminal portions,means pivotally joining said front and rear frame structures adjacentthe upperterminal portions of the side members, seat structure pivotallysecured to the transverse bar of one of said H-shaped frame structuresand slidable rela tive to the transverse bar of the other of saidH-shaped frame structures and adapted to be supported by the transversebars of both of said frame structures when the chair is open for use, agenerally U-shaped arm structure having the leg portions of its Upivotally joined to the upper terminal portions of one of said framestructures, and a back structure pivotally connected to the U-shaped armstructure at the bottom of the U, and also pivotally connected adjacentits lower portion to the rear portion of the seat structure.

3. Structure as specified in claim 2, wherein the seat structure issecured to the transverse bar of the front frame structure and restsupon the transverse bar of the rear frame structurewhen the chair isopen for use.

4. Structure as specified in claim 2, wherein the back structureincludes a body-engaging portion pivotally mounted on the U-shaped armstructure at the bottom of the U, for pivotal movement about ahorizontal axis.

5. Structure as specified in claim 3, including means for temporarilylatching the seat structure to the-transverse bar of the rear framestructure when the chair is open for use.

6. In a folding chair, a pair of front legs and a first transverse barjoining the front legs, a pair of rear legs and a second transverse barjoining the rear legs, an integral extension carried by each of saidlegs and projecting upwardly beyond the transverse bars, meansincluding.

an arm portion rigidly secured to each rear leg extension and pivotallyconnecting each front leg extension to the corresponding rear legextension adjacent the upper terminal portions thereof, seat structureadapted to rest on and be supported by the first and second transversebars, means providing a pivotal connection between said seat structureand the first transverse bar, means carried by said seat structure forengaging the second transverse bar when the chair is in open position tolimit pivotal movement of the rear legs in an opening direction relativeto the front legs, back structure pivoted to said seat structure andpivotable between an open position where it lies in a plane normal tothe plane of the seat structure and a closed position where it lies in aplane approximately parallel to, and close to, the plane of the seatstructure, arm structure comprising a pair of side portions pivotallysecured to the upper terminal portions of said rear leg extensions, anda central rear portion joining said pair of side portions and pivotallysecured to said back structure.

7. In the folding chair, a first pair of legs and a first transverse barjoining the first pair of legs, a second pair of legs and a secondtransverse bar joining the second pair of legs, an integral extensioncarried by each of said legs and projecting upwardly beyond thetransverse bars, means including a connecting arm portion rigidlysecured to each of the extensions of said first pair of legs andpivotally connected to the extensions of the second pair of legsadjacent the upper terminal portions thereof, seat structure adapted torest on and be supported by the first and second transverse bars, meansproviding a pivotal connection between said seat structure and one ofsaid transverse bars, means for limiting the pivotal movement of thefirst pair of legs relative to the second pair of legs in an openingdirection, arm structure comprising a pair of rest portions pivotallysecured to the upper terminal portions of one said pair of legs and acentral rear portion joining said pair of rest portions, each saidconnecting arm portion having an upper surface portion formed in amanner to abut a lower surface portion of one of said rest portions whenthe chair is in the open position.

8. The structure recited in claim 7 and further including abody-engaging portion attached to the central rear portion, and meanspivotally securing the central rear portion to the seat structure.

9. In a folding chair, a pair of front legs and a first transverse barjoining the front legs, a pair of rear legs and a second transverse barjoining the rear legs, an integral extension carried by each of saidlegs and projecting upwardly beyond the transverse bars, means includinga connecting arm portion rigidly secured to each of the extensions ofsaid rear pair of legs and pivotally connected to the extensions of saidfront pair of legs adjacent the upper terminal portions thereof, seatstruc ture adapted to rest on and be supported by the first and secondtransverse bars, means providing a pivotal connection between said seatstructure and said first transverse bar, means for limiting the pivotalmovement of said rear pair of legs relative to saidfront pair of legsReferences Citedin the file of this patent in an opening: direction, armstructure comprising a UNITED S PATENTS pair of rest portions pivotallyseemed to the upper terv minal portions of said rear pairof legsand acentral gigs ig rear portion joining said pair of rest portions, eachsaid" 2 68O473 Adler l 154 connecting arm portion having an uppersurface portion n I adapted to abut a lower surface portion of one ofsaid FOREIGN PATENTS rest portions when the chair is inthe openposition. I I 226,891

Switzerland Aug. 2, 1943

